No title yet
by redmoon3
Summary: Someone wants Merlin dead so an assassin is sent. Something happens and now Merlin is a little kid. What will happen and why do they want Merlin, Merlin of all people!, dead. Arthur isn't sure but he was going to find out. One way or another.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This is my second Merlin fanfiction. lol, I hope it comes out better then the first.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Merlin or its characters.

**Warning:** More then likely out of character, bad grammar, and maybe slash in later chapters. I haven't decided yet.

**Side Note:** In this story Morgana is not going to be evil.

_blahblah-_Thoughts

"blahblah"-Talking

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><p>Merlin smiled as he looked up at the clear blue sky, for once glad he had gone along with Arthur on his hunting trip. After being cooped up in the castle doing nothing but chores he was about ready to go insane.<p>

His smile quickly turned into a frown when something hit his back. He turned around, ready to say something rather mean to Arthur, whom he presumed had thrown what ever it is that hit his back.

He was dumbfounded, however when he saw not Arthur but someone else. Someone scary looking and most definitely dangerous. He could feel something strange coming from the man and it took a moment to realize, since he was terrified, what it was he felt . _He has magic!_ was his mind screamed at him, then before he could do anything the man mumbled something and Merlin felt strange. He suddenly felt very tired and his eyes closed against his will. He didn't even feel when he fell to the ground.

Arthur who had returned triumphantly after catching his prey stopped at the sight he saw before him. All he could do was stare at the unbelievable sight of a man about to kill a sleeping child with a sword.

Unsheathing his own sword Arthur quietly approached the man. He winced when he accidentally stepped on a twig catching the other man's attention.

Seeing as his cover was blown he moved quickly to drive his sword through the man's chest. His eyes widened when the man laughed as he fell to his knees. "I am not the only one after his life." He said in an creepily deep voice. "You may have killed me but I will not be the last. If you kill the next one then another will come. There is nothing you can do and you aren't always going to be around to protect him." With all that said the man succumbed to his wounds and fell to the ground.

The way he had spoken confused Arthur. _Why would I want to protect some kid?_ He thought to himself. Walking towards the kid he knelt down beside him to examine him and mused that the child reminded him of someone; he couldn't quite put his finger on who.

It was at that moment that Arthur noticed Merlin was not around. "That idiot. Where did he go now?"

"I'm not an idiot, Prat!" A childishly high pitched voice said from in front of him. He had been too preoccupied with wondering where Merlin was that he had failed to notice the child had woken up.

The words spoken sunk in a moment later and he quickly looked at the child. There was only one person, no matter where they went, that called him a prat. "Merlin?" He exclaimed. "Is that you?"

Merlin huffed, annoyed. "Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" Then he froze after he said that, noticing a few things. First, his normally not so baggy clothes were suddenly way too big for him. Second, his voice was way too high pitched and sounded childish even to his own ears. Lastly, the last he checked he was about the same height as Arthur, maybe a centimeter or 2 shorter but practically at eye level none-the-less.

"A-Arthur? What's happened?" Merlin stammered, actually fearful of what the answer was going to be.

"I-I don't know."Arthur admitted carefully. "I came back and you were on the ground. I thought you were just some random kid that had gotten himself into trouble. There was also a man he was trying to kill you. He must have been a sorcerer and made you a child to make it easier."

_Kill me?_ He thought to himself. Racking his brain he tried to recall what the man had mumbled under his breath but he couldn't. Thoughts raced through his head. _How long am I going to be like this? Will it wear off? Will I be stuck like this forever?_ His thoughts were making him feel sick. Too caught up in his thoughts he didn't feel himself start to sway, almost as if he were about to faint.

Arthur could see that this was a pretty big shock awkwardly pick Merlin up when he looked about to faint. "Why me?" Merlin asked, sounding and looking as depressed as a child his age could.

There was nothing he could say that would comfort Merlin, this Arthur knew so he settled for putting Merlin down and then going about packing their things to go back to the castle. Hopefully Gaius can find a way to fix this. He thought but didn't dare feel too hopeful, this was magic after all.

Putting everything on one of the horses he picked up Merlin, which apparently was something that he did not approve of since he flailed and wriggled trying to get out of the prince's arms. "Stop that." Arthur growled.

"Not until you put me down! This is humiliating." Merlin hissed back.

Arthur wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Were you this uncute when you were really a child?" He asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Merlin asked, offended.

"Your behavior is appalling." Was the blunt reply.

"Of course I wasn't like this as a child." Merlin scowled. "I may look like a child now but that doesn't mean I am one."

He had a point. He may look like a child but inside he was still the same old Merlin. _What to do what to do._

Getting tired from all the flailing Merlin was still doing Arthur finally put him down. "Thank you." Merlin said, sounding unthankful in every sense of the word.

With a small hmph he turned to the horse, taking a small step back, all of a sudden intimidated by the height of the beast. Looking back to Arthur he saw his amused smirk and scowled. He knew Arthur would never let him live it down if he didn't at the very least try to get on the beast himself. Breathing in deeply he stood next to the horse and struggled to reach the saddle. He was too short, damn it!

Arthur smiled as he watched Merlin struggle to try and get on the horse, _stubborn as always_. He watched a little longer as Merlin stood on the tips of his toes to reach the saddle but to no avail. Deciding it was time to head back before it got to dark he lifted Merlin into his arms, ignoring his indignant cries, and got on the horse himself. He made sure to grab the reins of the other horse as well.

There was no point in arguing now. Merlin didn't speak for a while, then his curiosity got the better of him. "How old do you suppose I am?" He asked as he adjusted his starting to fall sleeve.

Arthur thought for a moment. "How old do you feel?" He asked right back.

"Far too old." Merlin replied tiredly.

Laughing lightly Arthur couldn't resist the urge the ruffle his hair and so that's what he did. "Hey." Merlin complained, much more subdued.

"I would say you are about 6" Arthur guessed.

"Oh." Merlin said absently.

The rest of the ride was a quiet one. The only noise being made was the rustling of clothing as Merlin adjusted his over sized clothes every few minutes. "Gah! This is so annoying!" He finally said, bursting into tears out of nowhere. Caught off guard by the unexpectedness of it Arthur was clueless as to what to do. He had never had to comfort children, or anyone for that matter, before. Panicking he did the only thing he could think of he smacked poor Merlin upside the head._ Idiot!_ A voice inside his head, that sounded uncomfortably like Merlin's grown up voice, hissed._ He's just a child! You can't just go around hitting him!_

"Merlin! I'm sorry. I-I didn't..." He stammered trailing off. There was really nothing he could say after that.

The smack however seemed to have actually stopped him crying. "Ow." Merlin winced but didn't appear upset with the hit. Sniffling softly he wiped his tears.

To Arthur's relief they had made it to the castle soon after that little episode. "Look, We're here Merlin."

"Good. I'm tired." Merlin smiled sleepily.

When they reached the stables Arthur got off the horse, ordered the stable boy to take everything off his horse and take it to his room, then quickly walked into the castle. He was careful to avoid everyone gaze opting to stare straight ahead.

Walking into the throne room he ordered a bunch of servants to call upon the people he thought should know about this. After everyone, which was Uther (unfortunately he needed to know) Gaius (of course, being his ward and all), Gwen, Morgana, Lancelot, and Gwaine.

He quickly explained to all of them what had happened. Sometime during his talk he felt the weight in his arms grown heavier and glanced down to see Merlin fast asleep. A subtle smile crossed his lips as he continued talking.

When he stopped talking he looked to they all had varying degrees of shock on their faces.

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><p>Thank you very much for reading this! I know it is kind of rushed but I hope you enjoyed it :'D<p>

**Next Chapter:** The Next chapter will show everyone's reactions. Look forward to it


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Here is chapter 2! I know that in chapter 1 there is more than likely a whole mess of mistakes so I am going to fix it up a bit on my next day off. I am also sure that this chapter has its fair share of mistakes... Anyway, I hope you enjoy is anyway :'D.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Merlin or its characters.

**Warning:** More then likely out of character, bad grammar, and maybe slash in later chapters. I haven't decided yet.

**Side Note:** In this story Morgana is not going to be evil.

_blahblah-_Thoughts

"blahblah"-Talking

_**"blahblah"**_- a sort of flashback, thought, of someone else speaking... (Does that make any sense to anyone? Because it doesn't to me, lol.)

* * *

><p>"So what you're saying is that that child is Merlin?" Gwaine said slowly.<p>

Arthur nodded and didn't say anything else which made him speak again. "That child there." He said, pointing at Merlin in Arthur's arms, as if Arthur may not be seeing the same thing that everyone else was.

"Yes, Gwaine! This child here, in my arms, is Merlin." Arthur said, annoyed.

"Arthur let that thing go!" Uther hissed, finally overcoming his shock.

_Thing?_ Arthur thought confused, wondering what he was talking about. Then after a moment realized that he was talking about Merlin. _Merlin isn't a thing!_ He silently fumed. "Merlin isn't a thing, father." he said a lot calmer then he actually felt.

Ignoring his son, as he always seemed to, he grabbed his sword that was near his throne and held it tightly. "We must kill him."

"What? No!" Morgana exclaimed. She was not the only person the protest against this idea and several other voices echoed her own. Arthur's being one of the strongest.

Hearing all the protests Uther glared at them heatedly but made no move to advance towards Merlin. However he also made no move to lower the sword either.

"Father please this is Merlin we are talking about. Besides, even if magic surrounds him that does not mean that he himself is magic." Arthur tried to reason.

Merlin woke up at the precise moment that Arthur spoke those words and only one thing ran through his sleepy haze. _If only you knew._

"What's going on?" He asked drowsily. He tried to get into as much of a sitting position as he could considering his position. Arthur helped by shifting him a little so that he was sitting sitting on his right arm while his left hand was on his back for a moment keeping him balanced.

"Nothing." Arthur said plainly.

As he became more alert he realized that he was, once again, in Arthur's arms. Frowning, he started struggling. When Arthur only held him a little tighter he voiced his complaints. "Ar-I mean, Sire, put me down." He said, stumbling a little over his words . He was certain that Arthur's father would not be pleased that a mere servant were speaking his son's name so casually.

Arthur complied with Merlin's request when he saw no end to the flailing and squirming. "There." Arthur scowled.

Before Merlin could say anything he caught sight of Uther and he looked ready to kill. Suddenly his throat was dry and he couldn't quiet swallow correctly. He had always been intimidated and fearful of the man but he had never been this overwhelmed by his fear. However apparently his child body could not contain the fear that he felt at that moment and before he knew it tears had filled his eyes and were sliding down his cheeks.

_Was I always such a cry baby?_ He thought to himself, remembering the time back on the horse when he burst into tears out of frustration.

"Merlin. Must you do this now?" Arthur said, softening his tone as much as he could, without sounding weak in front of his father. Really though what was so weak about talking gently to a child? Apparently a lot, in Uther's eyes.

"Why are you speaking to him so softly?" Uther asked. "It seems like you're going soft, Arthur." He continued, disdain clear in his voice.

"He's just a child." Arthur replied stiffly as he watched Gwen discreetly move towards Merlin to clean his face with a handkerchief.

Merlin would have none of that. He took it out of her hand with a dejected "thanks" and clumsily wiped hie own face with it. It was rather difficult to get used to suddenly having shorter limbs then you were accustomed to.

"Please stop calling me a child." Merlin said. This whole conversation was getting tiresome so keeping nothing in mind other than wanting to get out of there he ran out of the room as fast as his short legs would allow.

"Hey-" Arthur started, moving to go after him but a hand grabbing his arm stopped him in his tracks. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. While his back was facing Uther he gave the rest of them a meaningful look.

They all understood and excused themselves moving slowly, in case they were instructed otherwise by the King. He, however didn't acknowledge them at all, much to their relief.

They looked everywhere for Merlin, the rooms, outside, in town, and in Gaius's place but he was nowhere to be found. "Wait, there's one place we haven't looked yet." Gwen said, a soft smile playing on her lips. She led the way to the place they haven't looked.

Arthur's room. The rest of them realized, somehow finding it obvious. Morgana was the one who stopped in front of the door and knocked on it gently. Of course, she knew she didn't have to but for some reason she felt obliged to.

"Merlin? We're coming in." Morgana called softly.

When the door opened they looked inside, expecting to see little Merlin sulking somewhere, maybe in a corner. They didn't expect to see a lump under Arthur's bed sheets, under them not on top of them. This had everyone surprised, sure he wasn't the most social class rules following person but he never went around lying in other people's (high class people) bed or anything.

"Merlin, buddy," Gwaine started, trying to sound as soothing as possible.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me?" Merlin groaned from under the covers, for the moment not caring that he had cut Gwaine off.

His childishly high pitched voice would have made them all smile in amusement had Merlin not been so obviously upset by what was going on.

Lancelot having just been observing what was going on suddenly walked over to the bed and yanked the covers off of Merlin, causing him to yelp in surprise then glare at him. The glare had no affect seeing as it looked more like a pout then anything and they all had to hide their smiles at how adorable he looked.

"Lancelot! Give me the covers back!" He demanded.

"No." Was the gentle reply. "Now, are you going to stop sulking?"

"I don't want to." Merlin said.

"Sulking isn't going to get you any where so stop it." Lancelot said. "You may look like a child but that doesn't mean you are one."

Merlin blinked. He had just said the exact same, or similar, thing that he himself had said to Arthur.

Having stopped listening by then, wow he had an even shorter attention span then when he was a grown up, he spoke up. "Where's his Royal Pratness?"

They all had to laugh at that, hearing that come from child Merlin was just too much for them, especially with his new squeaky voice. Then they became serious once more. " He is speaking with his father." Gaius, whom Merlin just noticed was in there, said.

"Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed and practically launched himself into the older man's arms, burying his face into his mentor's shoulder. "I wanna go now."

Gaius hesitated at that, "We have to wait for King Uther's verdict." He said, mournfully. In all honesty he wanted nothing more then to take his ward and run but that just may cost them both their lives.

"Why is everyone in here?" Arthur's voice could be heard from the doorway, sounding annoyed.

"Nothing," Morgana, started and walked towards the door. "but it would be lovely if we could get some privacy. Do you mind?"

"Oh, of course not." He said a little confused, and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Then not a moment later the door slammed open and he didn't look pleased. "This is my room! If anyone should be demanding privacy in this room it should be me!" He said through gritted teeth.

"No need to get mad about it, Prat." Merlin mumbled with all the fines of a 6 year old, which for the record was... none. He might as well have been talking normally, which he was.

"Merlin!" Arthur was caught off guard. He hadn't seen Merlin in there at a first glance, _because he is in Gaius's arms_, he mused. Rubbing a hand against his face he sighed. "Father has agreed not to kill Merlin. It took a lot of persuading," _and begging_, his mind supplied, though he would never admit that out loud. "but I somehow miraculously did it."

Hearing that Uther wasn't going to hurt Merlin they all relaxed their tense muscles; even Merlin went limp in Gaius's arms from relief.

Looking out the window Arthur noticed it was already dark. "It's late and you all look tired. Everyone get a good night's sleep and we will figure this out tomorrow."

They all, minus Merlin who was already half asleep; emotionally drained, were about to protest and a glare from Arthur quickly stopped them, minus Gwaine of course. "I don't know about you lot but I know _I_ won't be able to sleep knowing that someone is out there trying to kill Merlin and that they could appear any moment."

Taking that into consideration Arthur thought up a quick plan. "Alright, he will stay with me tonight." He announced.

"What? No!" Merlin exclaimed, suddenly a lot more awake. "I don't need to be babysat." There is no way I am staying with Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Until we get you back to normal you do." _And maybe even after that_. He inwardly grimaced at that, remembering what the sorcerer had said to him,_** "I will not be the last. If you kill the next one then another will come."**_ Then the last thing he said came to mind as well, _**"There is nothing you can do and you aren't always going to be around to protect him."**_ _Watch me protect him_, he thought. _Well, maybe not you personally watch, you are dead after all, but, you know what I mean!_ He thought to himself exasperated. Vaguely wondering if he was going just a little insane.

Merlin still looked reluctant so he continued. "I'll let you have one day off when you are back to normal. How does that sound?" He tried to bargain.

That perked Merlin's interest. "It doesn't sound as good one week." He said, with a big grin.

"One week? No way!" Arthur protested.

"One week or no deal." Merlin said, stubbornly crossing his arms and lifting his chin, looking adorable in all sense of the word.

_No way_. A part of his mind thought._ It's the only way to make sure he will be safe._ Another part reasoned. Sighing in defeat he relented. "Fine! You can have one week off."

"Yay!" Merlin cheered, and gave Arthur a wonderfully innocent smile. "Thanks." He didn't say it because he was obligated, Arthur being Prince and all, he said it because he felt the need to.

"Y-you're welcome." Arthur replied, stammering a little as he had been caught off guard. Maybe him being a child's body was an ok thing, he certainly seemed to have more manners this way.

Giggles and chuckles from around them made Arthur remember that they were not alone and other people had seen his defeat. Horrified he felt his face start to warm. He wasn't supposed to lose to anyone, least of all to his servant! "No one speak of this." He growled.

"Of course not, Sire/Arthur." They responded as one.

"Well, since that is settled," Gaius started. "we should all be getting some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Nodding in agreement they all left the room, after bidding both Arthur and Merlin good night, and went their respective ways.

Merlin sat on the edge of the bed as he looked around the room. Everything looked so much bigger, _ugh I hope we can get this fixed by tomorrow_. Arthur was taking forever or so Merlin thought and so he got under the covers and went straight to bed. He didn't feel like doing anything anymore; all he wanted to do now was sleep and hope that when he woke up the spell would have worn off.

Not hearing any more noise Arthur glanced around the dressing curtain (is that what it is?) and saw that Merlin was fast asleep. An amused smile played on his lips since he didn't have to argue with Merlin about sleeping arrangements, or so he thought.

"What are you doing?" Merlin's sleepy voice asked Arthur.

"Getting into bed." Was Arthur's uncertain reply.

Shaking his head a little Merlin rolled into the middle of the bed, spread his arms and legs out wide, and didn't move anymore. "This is my bed; find another one."

"Merlin. In case you have forgotten this is my room, everything in this room belongs to me, therefore this is _my_ bed." Arthur frowned.

"Not tonight it isn't. Tonight it is my bed." Merlin blew a raspberry at him.

"If you weren't a child..." Arthur trailed off though gritted teeth.

With a fake long anguished sigh Merlin moved back to where he had been in the first place, on the right said of the bed, and spoke. "I guess I could share it for tonight."

"Oh, well thank you Merlin for allowing me to sleep in my bed." Sarcasm dripped from every word that Arthur spoke.

"You're welcome. Now let me sleep or else I will kick you out." Merlin grunted.

Arthur shook his head in disbelief._ Maybe just one smack wouldn't hurt..._

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><p>And there is chapter 2! A bit longer than the first one and different then what I thought it would be like... I hope it still turned out well *fingers crossed*.<p>

**Another note: **I know Merlin is kind of whiny and a brat but it is kind of difficult to adjust to that kind of situation quickly. His attitude will get better, I promise.

I would like to give a special thanks to those who reviewed this, Tagrea, Ducky, ruby890, and anonymous. Thanks a lot! You get hugs! *hugs*

I would also like to thank all those that put this on their alert and favorites. You get handshakes... Just kidding! *hugs*_  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Here is chapter 3! Phew, feels like forever since I last updated. I know that in chapter 1 there is more than likely a whole mess of mistakes in chapter 2 as well. I am also sure that this chapter has its fair share of mistakes. I am going to try to fix them up... Anyway, I hope you enjoy is anyway :'D.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Merlin or its characters.

**Warning:** More then likely out of character, bad grammar, and maybe slash in later chapters. I haven't decided yet.

**Side Note:** In this story Morgana is not going to be evil.

_blahblah-_Thoughts

"blahblah"-Talking

_**"**blahblah**"**_- The Great dragon speaking

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><p>When Merlin got up the next morning he groaned unhappily. The spell had not worn off, not only that but sometime during the night Arthur's arm had found its way across Merlin's chest. It was getting a little difficult to breathe now so he wiggled his way out from under the offending arm, Arthur being a light-ish sleeper woke up quickly.<p>

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked sleepily.

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked right back.

"I mean, why are you moving around so much? You woke me up." A slight annoyed tone made itself known in Arthur's voice.

"Well, I wanted to get out from under your arm." Merlin frowned. "Your arm is heavy."

"And why prey-tell were you under my arm?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know. I woke up like that." Merlin said.

Arthur, already wide awake, shook his head annoyed. Getting out of bed he stretched and sighed happily when a light crack resounded from his back. "Wait here, I'm gonna change." He said and headed behind the dressing screen.

Merlin huffed. He had been ordered to stay where he was, normally it didn't bother him but for some reason it did today. Then he realized something, he looked down at himself and saw that he was only wearing his shirt, which was falling off one of his shoulders, so he had to constantly adjust him. He vaguely wondered why he hadn't noticed it yesterday. _Maybe because it's not something you notice when you suddenly wake up in the body of a child. _He mused.

Sitting on the bed he fiddled with the hem of his shirt and spread the bottom of his shirt awed at how small he had truly become. Sitting the shirt went a little above his ankles and the sleeves of his sweater hung over the edge, the neck hung low showing his small chest. He was amazed that he hadn't fallen with all the running and walking he did the day before.

That's how Arthur found Merlin when he was back out from behind the screen. Seeing what he was doing Arthur too examined what Merlin was wearing. Sighing he spoke. "Looks like we will have to buy you some clothes."

"You don't have to." Merlin protested, not wanting money to be spent on him.

Without either of them noticing Morgana and Gwen had opened the door and walked in, after knocking, of course. When they didn't get an answer and heard talking Morgana just walked in with a hesitant Gwen behind her. Having heard the little conversation Morgana spoke up. "Arthur is right, Merlin. You can't go around like that. People will think no one cares for you." Morgana commented.

Caught off guard Arthur whirled around. "Don't you know how to knock?" He scowled.

"I do and I did." Morgana replied. "You didn't answer."

Merlin carefully slid down off the bed and ended up falling, eliciting 2 soft gasps and Arthur breathing in and holding his breath. Morgana and Gwen rushed over. "Are you alright?" The two of them fussed as they picked him up off the ground and checked him for bruises.

"I'm ok." Merlin said in a small voice. His lower lip trembling in the tell tale sign that he felt like crying.

"Shh, shh. you're alright." Gwen coo'd softly.

"I'm alright." Merlin echoed, brushing invisible dirt off his shirt with his hands.

"Great." Arthur said. "Let's go." He said that but he didn't move. He wasn't sure what to do, should he hold his hand? Should he carry him? Deciding that he was uncomfortable doing either of those things he turned and walked towards the door. He heard more then one pair of, small, footsteps, so he turned and saw that not only was Merlin following but so were Gwen and Morgana. "What are you doing?"

"We're going too." Morgana asserted.

"No, you're not." Arthur stated.

"And why not?"

Arthur shrugged and stared at the two of them pointedly. They didn't get the message though and walked passed him each one holding one of his hands. Giving a sigh of frustration he pinched the bridge of his nose. He never could win against Morgana (not that he would ever admit that out loud), why did he even bother trying to?

"Can you let go of my hand?" Merlin asked.

"You're not as big as you used to be, Merlin. You can get lost easier in the crowd." Morgana said, softly.

"He is rather small for his age, or for the age he seems to be." Gwen murmured, more to herself then to the other.

Arthur walked behind the three of them and looked, really looked at him. He really was pretty small, was he supposed to be that small. At his age Arthur could remember being a whole head taller then the height Merlin was now. It made him worry, but only a little.

"Oh, look!" Merlin's excited voice broke through Arthur's thoughts. Looking to the child he saw that he was pointing to something and so turned his gaze to the spot where Merlin was pointing. It was a little stand with clothes for children. "Those look like my clothes."

Morgana pursed her lips. "They do." She commented then turned to look at a different article of clothing. "Look at this, Merlin. Isn't it cute?" She asked, holding a shirt that was the color of blue.

"I like this." Merlin insisted, looking at the clothes that resembled his own.

"Merlin, wouldn't you prefer something cuter?" Morgana asked, patiently.

"I like this," Merlin repeated.

"Why don't you want anything else, Merlin?" This time it was Gwen that asked.

"I-I don't know." Merlin responded truthfully. If he were honest he always did want something to wear that was a little nicer but for some reason he didn't want to anymore.

Arthur was getting annoyed. It was taking too long, or at least he thought so, to choose something to buy Merlin. He was about to snap at them to hurry up when he heard a voice in his head, that was not his, and made him practically jump out of his skin.

"_He does not know that the reason he wants those clothes is because they are familiar to him. He will feel comforted by wearing clothes that are similar to the ones he always wore with his normal body_."

The voice sounded old and wise and it had really shocked Arthur. Before he could freak out though it dawned on him that that reason actually made sense. People are always comforted by things that are familiar to them. He decided that it would be best to not dwell on the voice in his head, for the moment. He would try to come up with an explanation, that would prove to himself he was not crazy, later.

"Alright." Arthur cut who ever was talking off. "We'll get the clothes that Merlin said he likes."

"Really?" Merlin asked delighted.

To show he was serious he went straight to the owner of the stand and bought the clothes in that moment.

Eyes wide Merlin accepted the clothes that Arthur held out to him. "I'll pay you back." He promised.

Arthur just waved his hand dismissing the promise. Indicating, with out word, that there was no need for him to do so.

They walked on in silence, Morgana pouting since she couldn't buy Merlin anything cute.

Merlin stopped walking when the smell of food hit his nose. Now that he thought about it he was really hungry, his stomach growled lightly. He looked up expectantly but found that his stomach rumbling had gone unnoticed by the others. They had stopped so that Morgana could look at some things and decide what she wanted to buy.

He looked around to see if there was anything that he would want to eat. With out realizing it he wandered away from Arthur and the others. He looked at everything, for reasons that he could not understand everything looked so much more different. His childish mind was making things appear in different ways, as more a playground then a market place.

When he came to his senses he turned to go back to the others but found that he was not where they had stopped. He paled, panic starting to rise in him. _It's ok! Calm down_. He tried to calm himself.

He walked back the way he thought he had come, clutching the clothes Arthur had bought him to his chest. The longer he walked the quicker his pace became. I'm a deep breath he tried to recognize where he was. The stands, and merchandise, were always in the same place. He walked through there everyday, now he just had to remember his way around.

Everyone looked so much bigger now, everything did. Fear was the only thing he felt, that fear coursed though his body causing his bottom lip to tremble, his breathing to come out shaky, and tears to prickle the corner of his eyes. He made a valiant effort to wipe his eyes, hoping the tears the wouldn't escape, they did anyway.

"Arthur?" He called, voice trembling. "Arthur!"

Arthur was in full on panic mode. He couldn't believe they had lost Merlin. "How could you lose him?" He practically snarled at Gwen and Morgana.

"Don't blame us Arthur. You're as much to blame as we are!" Morgana glared at him.

Of course he ignored them. He didn't want to admit that it was partly his fault since neither him nor Gwen or Morgana had been looking after him. "I'm gonna go look over there." He said, gruffly.

Walking quickly he searched the crowd for little Merlin. It felt like he had been searching for hours and he was about to suggest they return to the palace, hoping he had returned there. When he heard a small cry of his name he thought he was only hearing things, then he heard it again. "Arthur!" The voice sounded terrified and wobbly, trembling. It was Merlin!

He ran towards the sound of the voice and found Merlin sitting in a corner, crying. "Merlin! You idiot. Do you know how worried I- Gwen and Morgana have been?" He scowled. Catching himself, before he admitted that he had been worried.

"I'm sorry." Merlin sniffled.

Letting out a deep breath harshly Arthur grabbed his hand carefully, not wanting to hurt him, and led him back to where Morgana and Gwen were. Once they saw Merlin their worried expressions turned to relieved smiles then just as quickly frowns. "Where were you Merlin?" Morgana asked.

"You know better then to wander off alone." Gwen scolded lightly.

"I'm sorry." Merlin's voice cracked, more tears threatening to fall.

"Alright. Let's get back to the palace before something else happens." Arthur said firmly. He grabbed Merlin's hand and led the way. He stared at Merlin in disbelief when he resisted the pull and tried to get his hand out of his grasp.

"Let go." Merlin said, weakly.

"No. You already got lost once. I'm not letting it happen a second time."Arthur replied firmly.

"I don't want to." Merlin said, still struggling.

Arthur looked to Morgana and Gwen for help however they were no help, and looked rather amused by this turn of events. Then an idea hit him. He gave Merlin his most stern look and spoke. "Either you hold my hand and walked to the palace or I will carry you there. Which do you prefer?"

That stopped Merlin from struggling. A part of him, his childishness, wanted to be carried but the other part, his adultness, didn't want others seeing him in such an embarrassing way. "I'll walk." He finally replied.

Arthur nodded and they were off. The walk was silent only punctured by Merlin humming a song to himself. Arthur was surprised how quickly Merlin got over the whole lost episode earlier, he seemed much happier now. He was starting to slow his pace though. "What's wrong?" Arthur asked. Masking his concern with mild annoyance.

Merlin looked down at his feet blushing a little. "I'm tired." He admitted.

Arthur looked to Gwen who made a motion of picking him up. Looking like it killed his pride Arthur picked little Merlin up. Merlin didn't protest or show any signs of discomfort, showing he was more tired then Arthur had thought. "I'm hungry too." Merlin said, leaning heavily against him.

"We'll get you something to eat when we get back." Morgana assured. With that Merlin let himself fall asleep.

The rest of the morning and afternoon went by quickly for all of them. After they had fed Merlin lunch he had fallen back asleep, they mused about how much a child needs to sleep, and about how no wonder they always had so much energy. With Merlin asleep they went about what they usually did, mind still on how to help Merlin get back to normal.

When it was close to dinner time Arthur woke Merlin up so that he would eat as well. Merlin was reluctant to wake up though. "You slept practically the whole day you're getting up."

Sitting up sleepily he glared at Arthur sleepily and stuck his tongue out at him childishly, while his back was turned, of course. His sleepiness quickly left him however when he saw what was hovering over Arthur. There in mid air was a ball of light, Merlin's ball of light to be precise. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some clothes levitating. He didn't understand what was happening.

"_Your young body can not keep your powers under control_." He heard the voice of The Great Dragon in his head.

_Great_. Merlin thought to himself. _How do I make it stop?_

He was so lost in thought that he didn't see Arthur turn around and he was seeing what Merlin had seen. His jaw dropped, he opened and closed his mouth as if to speak but no words came out. Then he found his voice. "What is going on?"

* * *

><p>So, there is chapter 3! I'm a little disappointed with it but I hope you enjoyed it :')<p>

**Another Note:** I know the story is starting a little slowly but I want them to bond a little before the story progresses further, so I think 1 or 2 more chapters of bonding and then the story will pick up the pace ^^.

I would like to give a special thanks to those who reviewed this, **Tagrea, Ducky, ruby890, anonymous, TheJunebug1218, miskris95, CAT GIRL 28, caitlyn marie, BabyGlover, KWink, Condiotti, and SonYukiGoku'sSister.** Thanks a lot! You get hugs! *hugs*

You guys are way too awesome 3

**miskris95:** lol. Thank you for reminding me! The whole time I was writing the second chapter I kept thinking, don't forget to explain about Merlin's clothes. Then I ended up forgetting, lol, so I added it here.

I would also like to thank all those that put this on their alert and favorites. You all get hugs too! *hugs*


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Guys!

Sorry, this isn't an update! I tried hard to work on my stories, but it didn't work out. I barely had time to breathe, lol. This semester was just way too streesful. I've pulled so many all nighters that I am positive that the amount of sleep I actually got this WHOLE semester was less than the amount of time I spent working through these nights! I cried myself to sleep so many times. Now that I think about it it is funny, but the stress was too much for me to handle.

I am writing this author's note to let you all know that I have not forgotten any of my stories and I will be updating very soon! Tomorrow is my last final (woot!) so after that I am all about writing, although I am kind of sick of it right now, lol. Seriously, I had a fifteen page paper (plus 45 minute presentation on the subject of that paper), five 5-page papers throughout the semester in one class, three 5-page papers in another, four 5-page papers in another, and exams with this teacher that makes us write 5-7 paragraphs for 3-4 different questions, not even take home, they were in class, ugh D; I also had to do volunteering, mandatory at the school I go to, plus field experience for a class.

I am soooo psyched it's over! Plus I am going on a much needed vacation in 2 weeks. Yay!

Anyway, sorry about the first part I just wanted to rant a little first, lol.

Thank you for your patience,

redmoon3

(Hope your time was more fun than mine!)


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